Broken
by Its Five 0'Clock Somewhere
Summary: An op gone wrong. A detective broken. A friendship shattered. Can Steve find a way to help Danny, before it's too late?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N -** Although I love reading other Hawaii Five-0 stories, I never intended to write my own. But this story idea came out of nowhere, and just won' leave me alone, so I decided to see where it would lead. I'm not totally up to date on all of the new episodes, since I just became interested in the show and have been Netflix power watching it ever since. I'm also not guaranteeing that this story will follow the major events of the show, since most of it is a figment of my imagination and is written purely for fun. I hope to see if anyone is interested after this short beginning chapter, and I welcome all comments and constructive criticism, but please be kind. Happy Reading!

Chapter One

"Come on, Danny." Steve practically begged. "Grace wants to see you. Rachel will have her here any minute."

"No."

The one word response was all he got, and Steve could feel the frustration bubbling up inside of him. If his partner hadn't been lying in a hospital bed, if his breathing hadn't been so labored or his skin so pale, Steve probably would have ignored the blonde detective's order and let Grace in to see her Danno anyway. He might even have raised his voice and yelled a bit, perhaps have dished out a needed dose of tough love.

But he couldn't do that to his partner. Not now. Not with what had happened. And he certainly couldn't do it to Grace. It would be devastating to the little girl if she saw her daddy like this.

So Steve simply placed a hand on Danny's shoulder to give him a reassuring squeeze, tried to ignore how Danny flinched away from his touch, and left the room.

Left Danny lying in that godforsaken hospital room, where the beeping machines were the only noise. Where the curtains were drawn and the lights were dimmed, because the detective would have it no other way.

And as he left, walking slowly down the hospital corridor, Steve wondered how everything had gone so very wrong.


	2. Chapter 2

**Refer to Author's note in first chapter. Happy reading!**

Chapter Two

* **Two Weeks Earlier***

"No, Steven, I do not think this is a good idea. In fact, I would even venture to say that it is a very, very bad idea."

"You're overreacting Danno." Steve smirked. "The intel is solid. We go in, do our thing, and come out. The bad guys go to jail, and we go grab some beers. Tell you what, I'll even pay for them."

"Well, reassuring as that lucrative offer sounds, I still think this is a horrendous idea!"

Steve had to bite back a chuckle as Danny punctuated his opinion with wild hand gestures. "Just calm down would you? Our source gave us a good tip, and we are going to follow through."

"Our source?" Danny snorted in disbelief. "Since when do we follow through on tips from an anonymous phone call? Do you not remember the last time we followed a so-called tip about a weapons deal? I would think that almost dying in a collapsed building would leave some kind of impression on you!"

His rant was cut off by Chin's appearance in the doorway, " If you two are done bickering, Kono and I have everything ready for the briefing, and our HPD backup are here to join in the briefing as well."

"Sure thing, Chin." Steve grabbed his gear off of his desk before grinning at the blonde detective. "Hear that Danno, we even get back up."

"What a relief." Danny muttered before picking up his own gear and following the two men out.

 ***Present Day***

"I'm sorry, Gracie." Steve knelt down on the sidewalk to wrap Danny's daughter in his arms. "I know you were looking forward to seeing your dad, but he's just not feeling up to it right now. Steve was glad that he had caught Rachel just outside of the hospital entrance, sparing both her and Grace the pain of seeing Danny's rejection first hand.

"But Uncle Steve, I'll make him feel better, I promise! Danno said that he always wants to see me. But.." Grace trailed off, her eyes growing big as she looked back toward her mom and then again at Steve.

"What is it, Monkey?"Grace uttered a small, pitiful sob, and Steve cupped her face in his hands. "You can tell me Gracie girl." Her response was to bury her face in Steve's shoulder, wrapping her arms around his neck as the sobs continued to erupt.

"Honey, please tell us what's wrong." Steve's eyes met Rachel's worried glance as she knelt down beside them, her hand rubbing comforting circles on Grace's back.

"Wh.. What if Danno doesn't want to see me. What if he's mad at me?" Before Grace could bury her head back into his shoulder, Steve had hoisted her into the air, his arms wrapped around her back so he could look right into her brown eyes

"No, no, no, no! Don't ever say that Grace. Danno loves you, he could never be mad at you!" Steve hoped his words were getting through. "I know that your daddy wants to see you so much, but he needs to rest right now. As soon as he gets a little better, I promise that you're going to be the first one Danno asks for."

"You think so?"

"I know so, Monkey. Now why don't you go on home with your Mom, and I will call as soon as I know anything. Alright?"

"Okay, Uncle Steve." Grace give him one last hug before turning to climb back into the car.

It was only when Grace's car door was firmly shut that Rachel dared to voice her own questions. "Daniel is not as well as you would have my daughter believe, is he Commander?"

"No." Steve shook his head. "He's not well at all. The doctors have told me that he's stable for now, but he has a very long recovery ahead of him. We all know that Danny's injuries are pretty extensive."

"I was referring more to his mental state than his physical one. My ex-husband is a fighter, but if he has already given up mentally, then the fight to become well physically may be more than he can handle."

"I don't know how to help him, Rachel." Steve's voice sounded just as broken as he felt. "I just don't know what to do."

"Daniel values your friendship. If anyone can get through to him, it's you." Rachel gave his arm a gentle squeeze. "Stay in touch Commander McGarrett."

As Steve turned back toward the hospital entrance, his heart ached. It ached for his partner, laying so broken upstairs. It ached for Grace, longing only to see her Danno again. And it ached for himself, wishing that he could go back in time and prevent this entire ordeal from ever taking place.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N** Everything written in italics signals a kind of flashback that occurs while Steve is talking - taking the story back to two weeks earlier. I tried my best to tie it in well with the story, so I hope it does not confuse anyone. Thank you all for the nice comments. Happy reading!

Chapter Three

"Commander McGarrett." Steve jolted upright from his chair besides Danny's bed, where seconds earlier his eyes had closed in unwelcome yet much needed sleep.

"I'm sorry to disturb you Commander, but I was hoping to talk to you about the mission where Detective Williams was injured. I believe knowing the whole story will aid me in assessing the Detective's current condition. If we could step into my office for a few moments, it would be very helpful."

"Of course, Doctor Miller" Steve's hesitant look back at his bedridden partner must have given away his concern, for at just that moment the doctor ushered in one of the day nurses, who promised to stay with Danny until Steve returned."

The two men settled into the nearby office, and Steve gratefully accepted the offered cup of coffee. "You're not looking so good yourself, Commander. Have you slept at all this past week?

"Enough." The answer was rude, forced, even to Steve's ears, but this was about Danny, not him. "What would you like to know?"

Doctor Miller was obviously not fooled by his defense tactic and change of subject, but delicately (and perhaps wisely) chose not to mention it, instead sitting across from Steve with a notepad and pen. "I know the majority of this matter is probably classified and you will be unable to share that with me, but anything you can tell me about the events leading up to Detective Williams capture and subsequent torture will help me in understanding how best to treat his physical and mental injuries."

"Well," Steve sat back in his chair, "I'll just start at the beginning."

"It was supposed to be a pretty routine operation. Things had been going slow for a while, no major cases or anything for my Five-0 team to work on, when out of the blue we received an anonymous tip about a weapons deal going down. The source gave us everything, the time, location, and all of his intel was credible. All of the major players were well known to us, and had been on our radar for a while, but we could never quite pin anything on any of them. The Governor saw this as a great opportunity to make a big bust and take some illegal weapons off of the streets. And he was right." At this Steve grinned, and ugly grimace of a grin that showed the pain in his eyes, if just for a second.

"The deal was big. Too big. We had backup, but we were so outnumbered, yet we couldn't have known that until we were inside. Until it was too late. By then all we could do was try to hold our ground and return fire, just hold out until back up arrived."

" _I'm not going to say I told you so." Danny crouched beside Steve behind a collection of rusty, old barrels. His words were hard to make out over the din of automatic weapons firing, but were loud enough for Steve to detect the sarcastic edge.._

" _Okay, so you might have a good point..." Both cringed as another volley of bullets clanged against the barrels, "But right now might not be the best time to talk about this Danno."_

" _Wow, the Super Seal has admitted that I was right. Where's an audio recorder when you need one?" Danny's hair was soaked in sweat, plastered against his forehead. "Too bad this moment can't be fully..." His words were drowned out by another round of firing._

" _We got to move Danny, we're not gonna make it here." Steve pointed to an open supply room to his right, about fifteen feet away. "We need to split up, make it harder for them to concentrate their firepower, and maybe we can hold out until backup arrives. On three you go right and I'll go left."_

" _Why do I have to go right?" Leave it to his smart-ass partner to complain about something so petty in the middle of a firefight._

" _Would you just do it?" Steve braced himself, ready for action, as he mouthed the words. Three. Two. One. At one, he spun to the left. sprinting as he fired in the direction of the oncoming shots. Praying they would make it. He dove for cover behind a stack of crates, looking back to see Danny five feet from the supply room door. "Come on buddy, you can make it." Three feet. He was so close, but as he watched, horrified, a bullet grazed the back of Danny's neck, and his partner stumbled, fell._

 _An onslaught of bullets clanged the wall right beside him, and Steve turned to return the fire. The two oncoming figures fell as his bullets drilled their torsos, the threat diminished for a moment. But that didn't matter. What mattered was that when Steve looked back to where his partner had fallen, he was no longer there._

 _Danny was gone._

"Commander." Doctor Miller's voice broke through the memory, his voice edged with concern. "Are you okay?

And at that moment, it was tempting to say that he wasn't okay. Because after watching his partner fall, after looking for him for three days, and then finding Danny so hurt and broken, well no one could possibly "be okay" after that.

"Yeah, I'm sorry." Steve cleared his throat. "That's about all of it. We aren't sure exactly what happened during the three days after Danny was taken. We found him in that warehouse all alone, and brought him here."

"Well, it is clear that your detective suffered some severe trauma, and the extent of it is still to be discovered. What worries me most is..."

At that moment Danny's nurse burst into the room, motioning for the doctor to follow. Their tones were hushed, but urgent, and Steve's heart began to sink. "What's happening? What's wrong with Danny?"

"Detective Williams is having a set back." Doctor Miller was on his feet and out the door in an instant, and Steve lunged after him, grabbing the man's arm a little more forcefully than he intended "Tell me!"

"There's no time Commander!" The doctor twisted from his grasp.

"He's coding!" The shout came from Danny's room. "We're losing him!"

"I need to get to my partner." Steve tried to slip past the wall of nurses blocking his way, but two had grabbed onto his arms and weren't letting go. All he could do was watch as swarms of medical personnel grouped into Danny's room. Just watch and pray.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N** I am absolutely, in no way, a doctor. All of the medical conditions and terminology etc. are purely based on Google or my own imagination. Any and all mistakes are mine. As for the timeline of the story, it doesn't really matter, but for those who might wonder it's set in the beginning of season 5, while Catherine was still in Afghanistan and Danny did not know about Charlie. Also, this story is really just a whump-fest for me. The story seems to have taken ahold of me, so if anything seems a little unbelievable to you or whatever, just hang in there. Maybe the plot bunnies will get back on track eventually. Once again, italics signal a flashback. Please review and happy reading!

Chapter Four

 _It was dark. Detective Danny Williams knew that much. And cold. A breeze was coming through the broken window to his left. The dirty scrap of cloth that passed for a curtain was billowing through the rough iron bars that crisscrossed the window frame, preventing his escape._

 _If he even had the strength to escape. At the moment, Danny was pretty sure that he didn't. His brain felt fuzzy, his thoughts were scrambled. His entire body felt disoriented; every moment causing a new wave of dizziness. He must have been drugged, because for the life of him, Danny couldn't remember where he was, what had happened that brought him to damp room. He squeezed his eyes shut, desperately trying to think, to remember anything about his current situation._

 _Nope, that wasn't working. The detective dug his hands into the dirt floor, pushing himself upright with all of his strength. A wave of pain rolled over his body, but it was his neck that exploded in a burst of pain as he braced his head against the concrete wall. He raised a hand to explore the back of his neck, to find out what was causing such horrendous pain._

" _Ouch, damn it." His hand came back covered in blood. A dark sticky blood that seemed to be mixed with a fair amount of dirt. That couldn't be good. He shifted again, trying to hold himself up against that wall so he could take in his surroundings and make a plan to escape._

 _A plan to escape. The blonde detective let out a hoarse chuckle; he was sounding more and more like his crazy Navy SEAL partner everyday. If Steve was here, he would've had all of the exit routes checked out already, the wound stabilized with some kind of muddy paste, and he would've already figured a way to turn that scrap of a curtain into some kind of deadly weapon. That's just the way his partner was. Danny laughed again, thinking of Steve's goofy grin, but the chuckle soon turned to a coarse, painful cough that racked his entire body._

 _He could feel his eyes closing against the pain, his mind slipping into unconsciousness as the effect of the drugs still pulled on him. "No, no, no." Danny struggled to pull himself out of the deep black hole looming in his mind. "Can't sleep. Gotta stay conscious." His thoughts once returned to his partner. Gotta stay strong like Super SEAL._

 _From the other side of the wall, foot steps could be heard clomping along the hallway. "Steve?" Danny's voice croaked, and he repeated louder. "Steve, I'm in here." The feet stopped outside of his door, and he heard the sound of the deadbolt turning._

" _Took you long enough." Danny spoke just as the door swung open, and two men strode into the room. Crap. They were not Steve._

 _The taller of the two forced Danny onto his feet, his grip tightened painfully around the detective's biceps. Before he even saw it coming, the second man's fist was smashing painfully into his jaw. Nope, most definitely were not Steve._

 _He didn't even have time to spit the blood out of his mouth before the fist was colliding into his face again. And again. It was only after the fourth punch that either of them spoke, and when they did it was bigger one, the one gripping him from behind, that rasped into his ear, "Who was your informant?"_

" _What? No introductions first? That's not very polite you know." The comment earned him two blows to the abdomen. Danny hunched over, his head nearly touching the floor, before he was yanked back up._

" _Don't play dumb with us." The man was hissing in his ear again. "We know someone tipped you cops off. And now we're out twenty guys, our biggest client, and a whole lot of dough. So you better start talking."_

 _It was all rushing back now, the anonymous tip, the weapons deal, being so far outnumbered. "I don't know."_

" _You're lying, Detective." Another volley of punches from the shorter guy, this time with a few kicks thrown in._

" _It was an anonymous phone call." Danny winced at the pleading in his own voice._

 _The ensuing blow knocked him to the ground. "You expect us to believe that?"_

" _Yes?"_

" _Well, we don't." The taller one sneered into his face._

" _I wouldn't." He paused to gasp for a breath, "I wouldn't tell you even if I did know." Danny met the man's gaze._

" _Then perhaps you need some encouragement." One man disappeared from view outside of the room as the other hauled Danny to his feet once again._

" _Can't...wait."_

" _You need to lose that attitude Detective." His captor returned, carrying something which Danny belatedly identified as a baseball bat before the man was swinging it into his side, the resounding crack coming just as Danny's world turned black._

"Aaaaah!" The scream jerked Steve awake from where he had once again taken residence by Danny's bed. He was on his feet in seconds, hand hovering near his gun holster, as he prepared to defend his partner from any threat before he realized that the gut-wrenching sound was coming from Danny himself.

"Hey buddy, take it easy." He crouched by the edge of Danny's bed, keeping his voice low and steady as he tried to calm the frantic blonde haired man. "I'm here bud."

The reassuring hand he laid on his partner's arm was met with another desperate cry, as Danny jerked away from the unexpected touch. He was thrashing in the bed, his wires and tubes tangling together as the IV line became disconnected. The frantic beeping of the machines served to startle the man further.  
"Steve!"

"I'm here, Danno. I'm here." The SEAL lunged for the panic button before returning to Danny's side. "You need to calm down babe. I got you." He curled an arm around Danny's waist to keep him from tumbling off the side of the bed, but his effort was futile, as the detective's thrashing legs crashed into his own, and in a tangled mess of wires and legs, the two crashed to the floor.

"Danny, are you alright?" The smaller man had landed on top of the SEAL, saved from the brunt of the fall by Steve's larger torso. "Answer me!"

"It's so dark." Was the whimpered reply. Danny pressed against Steve's chest. "I can't see you!"

Dammit, he didn't remember. They'd gone through this same painful ordeal the first time Danny had woken up, and now was no different. Telling him was no easier the second time around.

He wrapped his arms around his partner, as if to send strength through his own body. "I know buddy." He gulped back his own sob as he steadied the man in his arms. "You're blind."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N** **Once again, please remember that I am not a doctor, and though I have tried to make everything realistic and accurate, all mistakes are mine. I want to be accurate, but also please remember that this is fiction!**

 **Hopefully this chapter answers some of your questions about what's going on with Danny. I have lots of ideas for this story, and I plan for it to follow all of Danny's recovery. BUT I am not done with the Danny whump yet. Or the Steve angst. The boys need to suffer a while longer. *evil laugh***

 **But anyway, please please let me know what you think. I'm stepping out of my normal comfort zone to actually post my writing, so any reviews are greatly appreciated! Happy reading!**

Chapter Five

Steve was alone in Danny's room, his blue plastic hospital chair planted right next to the injured detective's hospital bed as he absentmindedly watched his partner sleep.

The detective's condition seemed to have stabilized over the past hour. It had taken two nurses to help settle him back in bed, and that was only after Steve had promised not to leave, keeping his hand clenched in Danny's the entire time. The blonde had eventually fallen asleep like that, his breathing finally calmed after the nurse strapped on a bulky, but thankfully effective oxygen mask.

"What'd the Doc say?" Chin and Kono burst into the hospital room, faces edged with concern. Steve's startled glance must have warned them to be quiet, and Kono circled around the bed to drop a gentle kiss on Danny's forehead. "Looks like our boy is finally getting some rest."

"He had a pretty rough morning."

"More like a rough week brah."

The steady rise and fall of Danny's chest was comforting, and Steve took the opportunity to slide his hand out from underneath his partner's, catching a breath when Danny stirred but didn't wake.

A few strands of flickering sunlight streamed through the curtains. Rising to stand by the window, Steve stretched as he watched another beautiful Hawaii sunset. If only Danny could see it. On second thought, Danny probably wouldn't want to see it. His partner claimed to hate everything about the island he often referred to as a "pineapple infested hell hole." Yet beneath his friends rough demeanor, it was clear that Danny was growing to love the tropical island. To think that Danny might never be able to see it again...The thought was terrifying.

"Well, it looks like the entire Five- 0 Task force is waiting for me." Doctor Miller finally entered. " Any of you going to cuff me for being late?" His attempt at humor was noticed, but pointedly ignored by the three.

"Let's just get to business then. Detective Williams suffered a vast array of injuries. He has several broken ribs, bruising that covers most of his body, and the bullet graze to the back of his neck. Fortunately, the graze was not deep enough to do any damage to his spinal cord, and I don't expect it to cause any complications. He's very weak, due to blood loss and the dehydrated state that you find him , the condition that most concerns me is the traumatic head injury that Detective Williams suffered."

"Which is why he's blind?" Kono spoke from her perch on Danny's bed.

"Yes. The blunt force trauma he received to his head has caused swelling in the brain. The pressure build up is basically pushing on his optic nerve, causing the vision loss."

They all looked fairly grim as the doctor continued.

"When Detective Williams first arrived we conducted a CT scan that showed this significant swelling as well as a minor brain bleed. As you know, we did perform surgery to remove the blood in the brain, but that proved unsuccessful in helping to relieve the swelling."

"So what does that mean?" Steve gulped. "That he's going to be blind permanently?"

The doctor shook his head and sighed. "Not necessarily, Commander. Right now, there is nothing we can do about the swelling except wait for it to relieve itself. Once the pressure goes down, we will be able to evaluate the optic nerve for any permanent damage."

"How long will it take?"

"It could be weeks; I couldn't possibly know for sure. For now, it is important that Detective Williams rests as quietly as possible. The last thing he needs is to be causing more damage to himself."

"Of course Doc." It was Chin who was able to pull himself together and give the man a firm handshake before he left the room. "We'll take good care of him."

"I don't doubt it." Doctor Miller was familiar with the Five-0 team, as was practically every medical professional in the hospital, and he had already observed how very close their ohana was. If anyone could help the blind detective, it was his Five-0 team.

 **...**

Danny woke several times that night, awake but never fully present. His hands were constantly at his face, either fiercely rubbing at his eyes or grabbing at his head in frustration. After the distraught detective had twice removed the bandage that covered a sizable and freshly scabbed-over cut on his temple, the nurses threatened to restrain him, and Steve had taken to gripping both of Danny's hands within his own.

Despite his anxious state, Danny had slowly been improving. Steve could see it on the nurses' faces as they fluttered in and out of the room. Gone was their tight, blank expressions and pursed lips as they checked vitals and administered fluids. The hectic, almost frenzy pace that had dictated his partner's care regimen had been replaced with a calmer, yet still very capable one.

Perhaps to second his observations, a smiling nurse entered, clipboard in hand. She dutifully checked and noted all of Danny's vitals before speaking to Steve. "I see our patient hasn't moved much, and neither have you."

"He's been out like a light." Steve shrugged at her knowing glance as he shifted uncomfortably in the plastic chair. Her unspoken message was clear, but there was no way he was leaving Danny's side. At least not before his partner woke up.

As if on cue, Danny began to stir in the hospital bed, his hands automatically rising to rub at his eyes before Steve had a chance to stop him. "Easy buddy, don't do that." Steve gently pried his hands away, rubbing easy circles on them with his thumb to soothe his drowsy partner.

"I'll go find Doctor Miller. He'll want to do a brief examination, and then perhaps we can get some breakfast into this guy. He hasn't eaten since yesterday morning." Steve nodded in appreciation as the nurse hurried away, grateful that he didn't have to juggle comforting Danny with arranging to see the doctor. His partner needed to have his full attention.

"How are you feeling?" Steve coaxed gently. He tried to rouse Danny into a more conscious state, afraid that his weary partner might lapse back into confusion and send them both on a second tumble to the floor.

He did not get a response, though he hadn't really been expecting one, but as he had hoped Danny seemed to arouse a bit more, his head turning toward Steve's voice as his eyes opened.

What Steve hadn't hoped for, or even expected, was the cold glare on Danny's face or the hard edge to his voice when he rasped, "Get out Steve. Get the hell out."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N - Thank you everyone who has followed, favorited, and reviewed this story. It really does mean a lot.**

 **Enjoy!**

Chapter Six

" _Get out Steve. Get the hell out."_

Steve needed air. Time seemed suspended in place as the white, stagnant hospital walls slowly caved in on him. His stomach lurched, and he had to brace one shaking hand on the bed handles to keep from tumbling to the floor.

His partner's blonde head was now turned away from him, the crumpled bandage on his neck serving as another stinging reminder of Steve's failure. His failure to keep his team safe. To keep Danny safe.

The lump in his throat made it impossible to speak, but when he finally could, the words came out natural and confident. "I can't do that. I'm not leaving you Danny."

"Just go Steven." Danny's words were muffled this time, but Steve could sense the slight waver in his partners voice.

"Nope, not gonna happen Danno."

"Dang it Steve, can you not be Super Seal for once in your life and just go?" Danny grunted as he turned back toward his partner. "I don't need you to see me like this."

Though the words were sarcastic, much more like the Danny Williams that Steve knew and loved, the pain that underlied them was enough to break the Seal's heart.

"See you like what Danno? All I can see is my stubborn goof of a partner who's kept me worried sick for the past week."

"You can't see it, Steve? I'm so weak, so dependent. How am I supposed to do my job, or be a father to Grace? I can't walk on my own or even stand up. How am I supposed to do anything when I can't even freaking see?" Danny's voice dropped to a raspy whisper as he opened and closed his mouth, barely able to form the words. "I'm half a man now."

"Whoa." Steve dropped to one knee, hunched over so his face was just inches from Danny's. "You are more of a man than anyone I know. You are the strongest, bravest, very best person that I have ever met." He could feel Danny's short breaths on his cheek. "Is this why you haven't wanted to see Grace?"

"I just can't" Danny's voice broke as he blinked back a tear. "I can't let my baby girl see my like this. How on earth do you tell your daughter that you can't run with her, and scoop her up as she jumps into your arms? That you won't be able to attend that father-daughter dance the school has planned for next week because you're blind?" A violent sob escaped his throat. "That kid has been through so much, and I've tried so hard to protect her from all the crappy things that go on in this world. But this..." Danny broke off again, unsure that he would be able to continue. "There's no way I can protect her from this."

"You don't need to protect her from this, babe! Yes, it's going to be tough on her; it's tough on all of us. But you're hurting Grace more by pushing her away."

Danny closed his eyes. "I just can't bear the thought of never being able to look into her beautiful face again."

"You will see Gracie's face again." Steve was quick to answer. "I don't care how long it takes, we are going to get through this. Together. That's what family does. Okay?"

Danny nodded, fumbling to find Steve's hand and give it a reassuring squeeze. "Okay."

"Good." Steve grinned and squeezed his partner's hand back, knowing that Danny was trying to express what words simply couldn't convey. It was simply reassuring to know that they could face whatever came their way, simply because they would face it together.

"Hey Steve." Danny voice regained some of it's playful bounce. " I just thought of something. Being blind does have its perks."

The Seal smirked. "And what would that be, dearest Daniel?"

"I don't have to stare at your ugly face everyday. It's quite a relief actually."

Steve attempted to keep a straight face as his partner burst into laughter, but then joined in when he remembered that Danny couldn't see him anyway. A few minutes of laughter, even though at his expense, were a welcome respite from the trauma of the past week.

The two were still chuckling when Doctor Miller arrived, and Danny took the opportunity to repeat the joke, getting even more of a kick out of it when the doctor guffawed with laughter.

"It's nice to see you in such good spirits, Detective." Miller kept up the stream of conversation as he examined both of Danny's eyes and poked at the cut on his forehead. "We were pretty worried about you there for awhile." The examination worked its way down to the wound on Danny's neck, causing the blond to flinch in surprise when the doctor pulled back the bandage unexpectedly. "Commander McGarrett was the worst of us all, keeping watch on you like a nervous mother hen."

"Is that so?"

Steve had to bite back a chuckle when Danny looked the wrong direction, obviously not realizing that he had stepped away from the bed and crossed to the other side of the room in order to give the doctor space.

"I never thought of you as the mother hen type, Steven." Danny kept up his conversation toward the wall where Steve had been standing. "Did you learn that in the Army too?"

"It's the Navy, Danno." Steve didn't bother to hold back his laughter as Danny's eyes blinked in confusion before his head flashed toward the sound of his voice.

"You...You."

"Is stuttering another side effect of the concussion, Doc?"

Miller smirked and shrugged, signaling that he was going to stay out of this episode of lively banter.

"Neanderthal!" Danny finally managed to sputter. "You evil Neanderthal!"

"Now, now boys." The nurse came sailing back in just before Danny grew excited enough pull out his IV line, breakfast tray in her hands. "Let's not upset our patient."

"That's right." Danny looked smug. "Keep this wild man away from me."

Steve started with a witty comeback, but was quieted by the nurse's disproving glare.

"Why don't you put all of your seemingly abundant energy to good use, Commander." A yogurt container and plastic spoon were shoved into his hands. "And feed our patient some breakfast."

"Yes Ma'am."

"No, no! Don't leave me with him!" Danny called after the nurse as her footsteps faded away. They could both clearly hear her half-hearted grumbles about those "over-grown children."

"Open up, Danno! You want me to do airplane?" Steve loaded up the spoon with strawberry yogurt, swinging it through the air as he "zoomed" it toward the detective's mouth.

"Don't you dare, Steven!" Danny flung up his arm in response, but only succeeded in knocking the spoon mid-descent, causing the pink contents to fling across his face and gown. "You animal!"

"Before all havoc breaks loose in here, may I speak my piece? I'd like to get out of the firing zone as quickly as possible." Doctor Miller interrupted, a clear twinkle in his eye. "Detective Williams, based upon my examination and your vast improvement in the last twenty-four hours, I do believe that you have spent all the time here that is necessary. I would like to keep you here for at least one more night so I can monitor that head injury, but barring any complications I can say that we should release you tomorrow."

"Hear that, Danno?" Steve swung to face his partner, yogurt-spattered face and all. "You're going home!"


End file.
